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Adam Steltzner

Engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Adam D. Steltzner is a Fellow at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and is leading the development of the Sampling System for the 2020 Mars Surface Mission project. He has worked for about ten years designing, testing and building the sky crane landing system for the Curiosity rover. Steltzner was phase lead and development manager for EDL (Entry, Descent and Landing) of the lander, which successfully landed on Mars on August 5, 2012. Steltzner received his BS in mechanical engineering from University of California, Davis in 1990, his MS in applied mechanics from Caltech in 1991, and his PhD in engineering physics from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1999. Steltzner joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1991 and has worked on various projects including Galileo, Cassini, Mars Pathfinder, Champollion, Comet Nucleus Sample Return, Mars Exploration Rovers, and the Mars Science Laboratory. His research interests include structural dynamics, input force determination, mechanical design, systems engineering, and leadership of high-performance teams.

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